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Josiah scowled. “You weren’t the sheriff when they did it.Ifthey did it, that is. It’s just your word against theirs.”
“And mine,” Mercy said. “And we have another witness as well.”
Josiah shrugged. “I don’t see how that makes any difference. For all anyone knows, you started it and they were just trying to defend themselves. From what I hear, they’re not in very good shape and yet here you are, hale and hearty. Seems to me my men were the ones who were attacked that day.”
“Just because they lost the fight doesn’t mean they didn’t start it.”
“That’s right,” Josiah said, giving Gray a long, hard look. “I’ve heard you don’t like starting fights.”
He said it as though it were some sort of insult, and his men snickered like their boss had just brutally put him in his place. But Gray had heard it all before. Like he was somehow less of a man because he didn’t provoke fights. He shrugged, completely indifferent. “Doesn’t matter who starts. I always finish ’em.”
Josiah’s jaw muscles popped in and out as he visibly gritted his teeth. Probably debating the wisdom of riling a sheriff with a gunslinger’s credentials. “None of that makes any difference, anyhow,” he finally said. “Either way, I want them back. Now.”
Gray gave him a cold smile. “We both know I’m not gonna let that happen, Josiah. They attacked us. Unprovoked. Even if it hadn’t beenmy wifethey were aimin’ at, that still would have been a problem. They’ve been arrested and they will sit in that jail cell until they can be transported to the nearest judge for trial.”
Gray’s hands had been moving as close to his guns as he could unobtrusively manage while he spoke. Josiah was far too angry to let this go, and he wasn’t very subtle with his intentions. His men were already squaring up beside him, not even trying to hide what they were doing. Gray turned his head slightly toward Mercy, though he kept his eyes on Josiah.
“Get behind me,” he said as quietly as he could. She sucked in a breath and turned to him, her eyes wide. “Just do it,” he said, putting as much urgency in his voice that he could. He didnothave time to argue with her.
“You’ll rot in hell before you take my men anywhere,” Josiah said, going for his guns.
“Now!” Gray yelled.
Mercy dove behind him just as three shots rang out. Josiah screamed and Gray took a deep breath, his guns both smoking in his hands. He’d worried for a second that he might be a little rusty. It had been a while since he needed to fall back on his skills, but he was glad to see he worried for nothing.
Josiah’s guns lay on the ground, and he cradled one bleeding hand with the other.
“You shot my hand!” Josiah said, his face nearly purple with rage and pain.
His men sat stunned beside him, their horses prancing with terror. Gray’s bullets had found their marks. One had gone right through the palm of Josiah’s gun hand. The other had shot the hat off the head of one of his men. The third man cursed and wheeled his horse around, galloping off before anyone could say another word. Gray had no idea where Josiah’s shot had hit, but it hadn’t struck him or Mercy, so he wasn’t going to worry about it.
Josiah grabbed the reins of his horse with his uninjured hand, the other cradled against his side, bleeding profusely. “This isn’t over, Woodson. I’ll have you gone, one way or another, before the month is out.”
Gray sighed as Josiah wheeled around. The man whose hat had been shot jumped from his horse, gathered his hat and Josiah’s gun, and then followed him out of the courtyard. Mercy laid a shaking hand on his arm, and he holstered his guns, then pulled her into an embrace.
“Are you okay?” he asked.
She buried her face against his chest and nodded. “Are you?”
He rubbed his hands up and down her arms, assuring himself that she really wasn’t hurt as much as trying to calm her.
“Oh yeah. That wasn’t the first gunfight I’ve ever been in.”
She laughed, and the sound soothed the pounding of his heart a little. No, it was far from his first gunfight. But it was the first one where he’d felt true fear.
He smoothed a few strands of hair from Mercy’s upturned face and cupped her jaw, drawing her in for a long, slow kiss. Then another. Then he kissed the tip of her nose and just drew her in, holding her until she stopped trembling. It gave him a few minutes for his own frantically beating heart to calm. If Mercy hadn’t dug those damn guns out from the garden… He didn’t want to think about what might’ve happened.
Apparently, there was a downside to all this peace and contentment stuff. Having something to care about meant he had something to lose. He hadn’t had anything close to that in a long time, and he didn’t know how to feel about his change in circumstances. He didn’t like this feeling. The fear. The uncertainty. He’d been able to live his life relatively numb and unencumbered for…decades, really. All these…emotions…the worry…he wasn’t sure he was equipped to deal with it all.
Finally, he sighed and gently set Mercy away from him. “I think we better head to town and check on Jason and Josiah’s men.”
She frowned. “Do you think Josiah might’ve sent men into town while he came here?”
“It’s a good possibility. It’s what I would have done,” he said with a shrug. “And if he hasn’t yet, he will soon. I want to get those men transferred out of here as soon as possible.”
She nodded. “We haven’t had to transport prisoners in a very long time, but Jamison and the reverend will know what to do.”
Gray didn’t like that she so quickly relied on the other men to handle the situation. Totally irrational, he was fully aware. Those men had been in the town for years and knew how things were run. So, of course, they were the ones who would know what to do with the prisoners in the absence of the old sheriff. He tried to shove away the jealousy and kissed her forehead.
